Ashley Biden Alleged Cocaine Tape Seller Withdraws Under Fire

Washington lawyer Thomas Dunlap is under fire for attempting to sell a video of Ashley Biden, the 27-year-old daughter of Joe Biden, allegedly snorting lines of cocaine at a Delaware party last month.

The New York Post claims that Dunlap showed it 90 seconds of the 43-minute tape, which purportedly shows Ashley doing lines of coke with a red straw in front of witnesses and later shouting "Shut the F-- Up!" The newspaper reported that the seller wanted $2 million before dropping his price to $400,000.

Radar Online reported that Dunlap has since dropped the client after he learned the tape was recorded on a hidden camera, complaining about all the "negative attention."

Dunlap told RadarOnline.com early Sunday that he is no longer involved in the attempted sale of the video and informed his client he would not continue to represent him. The lawyer said he did not want to be involved due to circumstances surrounding the publicity of the matter.

According to the New York Post, the video in question shows a woman who looks like Biden talking and snorting several lines of cocaine with a straw.

The video ... shows a 20-something woman with light skin and long brown hair taking a red straw from her mouth, bending over a desk, inserting the straw into her nostril and snorting lines of white powder.

She then stands up and begins talking with other people in the room.

Vice President Joe Biden, who coined the term "drug czar" in 1982, has not yet commented on the story.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, adds that fellow lawyers are stunned by Dunlop's behavior:

While most people are shocked by the craven acts of the still unidentified friend, most lawyers are equally shocked by the involvement of a member of the bar in allegedly shopping this tape to tabloids for the highest bidder.

Biden is a social worker for a Delaware child-welfare agency.

Comments

[Schvenzlerman]

Let's get this straight. Were the user black and/or the drug crack cocaine, a prosecutor would subpoena the tape and the user would go to prison. Instead, the user is white, a child of a VPOTUS and the drug is powder cocaine, so it's Leave the Children Alone. And to boot, we all know that Obama isn't remotely interested in ending the silly Drug War because the U.S. intelligence community, as always, has a big piece of the action and too many corporations avail themselves of slave labor rates by manufacturing sundry products in federal prisons. Okay, next case.

[Alexander Barreto]

is she colombian? put her in jail!!

[JinMN]

Ok so everyone commenting on the secret service not present during the party-I read that the SS covers children under 18 of Pres. and VP-so Ashley wouldn't have secret service protection right?

[MED1025]

But she does have SS protection.

[juxtapostle]

Eerie how many people on this thread want this story buried.

[Merckx]

No not really. We just don't care. I didn't care the Bush girls partied either.
Just that their father was a lousy President.

[Applecheeks]

I don't care. So she did coke, how does that relate to anything? Does his daughter's actions reflect on Biden? Two words, Bristol Palin.

[AngieMom57]

I want it buried.

[juxtapostle]

So, we should not air the dirty laundry? Keep these secrets in the closet, and the prohibitionist drug laws status quo?

[Mahrion]

I disagree, tabloid news is news too.

[PrincipiaChamp]

nothing eerie about that...thanks AngieMom

[MorpheusXNYC]

Eerie how anyone cares about what the daughter of a politician does for fun.

Joe Biden never put himself up to be some kind of religious zealot, unlike Bush, and even then, I didn't want to hear anything negative about his daughters.

Family should be off limits. There should be a media blackout on the kids.

[JonAmmendall]

Unless it is . . . S. Palin . . . or McCain

The Bush twins and their problems got covered early on as did Gore's son. That may be the reason Gore didn't run this time.

[Truthosaurus]

Be sure to remind everyone about that next time a Bristol Palin thread starts back up.

[juxtapostle]

Biden has been a prohibitionist zealot. Not quite instant karma, but fitting that he should be personally affected by the legal discrimination he has helped perpetuate upon others. His prohibition laws are far worse than the drugs ever were (e.g., have fun finding employment with a positive test for marijuana on your record).

[gladiator777]

Sure, the same for sarah palin and her kids. Give me a break if any of her family had done this thats all that would be on the news, I would never vote for her as president but the media bias is obvious as usual.

[VideoHammer]

Yeah, few of THEM are as astute as you clearly are.

[EthylRosenberg]

HA HA

[AlphaDoc]

LOL!

[BreezyinVA]

So the lawyer dropped out because of publicity? The whole point of exposing the video was publicity. Not too bright.

[EthylRosenberg]

The lawyer dropped out because he thought about what he was doing, thought about the LAW, and thought better of his position in the matter.

[PrincipiaChamp]

Because he didn't get enough money to retire on...he took a chance with his reputation and peer review. As an attorney, trust me, he will pay for this within his profession.

[roshni]

If the New York Post refused this, it tells me that this is not Ashley Biden. I hope the person trying to peddle it gets sued.

[EthylRosenberg]

Exactly. If it was her, the Post would steal it if they had to.

[rhondadavis28]

Leave the children alone!
This is despicable!
We should not even have heard of this!
The Press should have the good sense and good taste to squash this and other like stories!
Leave the children alone!

[zapper501]

how old is she she is not a child imagine if this was bristol you would be all over it

[BelGazou]

"Leave the children alone" only if they are still minors or not doing something illegal. Biden's daughter is also no longer a child. I'm hoping that the picture is not one of Biden's daughter, who as a Social Worker working in Child Welfare and one under intense media scrutiny by virtue of her being the Vice-President's daughter, should have the maturity and good sense not to be a drug abuser.

The fact that that sensationalist rag, The Post, did not feature the story and that the person trying to sell it has in fact opted not to, may indicate that the person in the picture is not Ashley Biden.

[HC4BO]

Vote OUT The Gee Obstructionist Party ...

SideNote Reminder:

The special election to fill the open Congressional seat in New York"s 20th district is tomorrow " Tuesday, March 31st.

Vote For CHANGE !

[bootooyoo]

Gosh, she sounds dangerous. We'd better put her in prison, with the other 2 million Americans, for a few years. I'm sure that will make everything better.

[juxtapostle]

Perhaps it would help clarify the situation for the administration, and give them a better perspective of how dangerous the drug laws in this country are?

[dontvote4him]

Jail? for a non minority. Not a chance.

[SousioXXX]

Another example of the failed drug prohibition policy. Coke is cheaper than ever. If it was legal it could be regulated and controlled better. It could be cleaner and healthier. It shouldn't be a law enforcement or military problem. It is a health, education, recreation and economic matter. Life should have its pleasures and enchantments.

[dontvote4him]

Then I could stay at this screen for days.

[bradleybt]

With everything said here, a few people have made good points. I doubt this is real at all. The fact that if no one wants to buy it tells me that it doesn't matter, and it's most likely not Ms. Biden.

[roshni]

Especially since the New York Post won't buy it.

[mlang52]

But, one must remember that Michael Phelps's picture was bought by a British tabloid!
This very well could be her. But, there is a double standard for the treatment of people by the media, according to what your political affiliation is. IMHO. I will defer my judgment on this until more information is revealed about it.

[susanai]

This story is very troubling. Has it been sourced? What is the name of the reporter? Why is a Murdoch paper pushing this? Why should the world care?
Your media seems to be running your country. Your media just happens to be one of the worst. The world really DOES keep turning and NOT caring about your silly problems. Please allow your President to DO his job and to your media stfup! One question, I am finding that most of your broadcasters hardly ever use the 'President' when talking about their President - why is this?

[roshni]

excellent post.

[zapper501]

its getting play on here too

[MsIrisMG]

You're right - there are a litany of paradoxes in this whole story. The NY Post shows restraint and integrity - unusual given that they are a tabloid - by not buying this tape, yet all the other news media would probably buy thsi guy out in a heartbeat. The media wants to control what is heard and when it is heard or seen, and act like children when they feel left out or made to wait. The media nearly destroyed PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They punish those in their industry who speak the truth. Starting to sound like the old Soviet system and not for the reasons the Republicans like to rail about. Worst of all, people are starting to equate blogs with legitimate news sources. I for one don't like what's happening.

It sometimes it takes a foreign observer with a flashlight to shine a light on a situation.

[PCMinistry]

I could understand if this was the daughter of a GOP member or even a conservative pundit, but this is Biden's daughter...why exactly is this on here? We don't criticize our own here, everybody knows that. If it was some GOP's daughter we would be really be calling them out on being the family values people and all that and criticizing their family and its a shame that he raised a daughter who is snorting cocaine that is probably funding terrorism, and all that kind of stuff...but given that its Bidens daughter I am not surprisingly leaning more towards a "leave her alone" and "who cares?" or even a "this isn't news" stance.

[Q2]

Why would it be any different? Biden is pro war-on-drugs in the same way that Dick Cheney is pro family-values. We have the right to ask Cheney about his daughter (who is a lesbian, and according to the GOP and their conservative Christian base would be an abomination and not have the same human rights as a hetero woman) in the same way we have the right to ask Biden about his.

[ibsteve2u]

lolllllllll....Cheney is pro-his-family...ain't got nothing to do with values.

[oldngrumpy]

Perhaps the fact that it "isn't" a GOPer is the news angle. ;)

[PrincipiaChamp]

Troll? or facetious PC

[ibsteve2u]

What do they teach in law school and business school these days, anyway?

Besides "If you get paid to do it, it is OK to do.", that is?

[jarjarbush]

Jump up bubble up what's in store
sludge is the drug and I need to score.

"a woman who looks like Biden talking and snorting several lines of cocaine with a straw."
Are we then to assume that it "looked" like several lines of cocaine with what "looked" like a straw?

It "looks" like any attack on any member of the Obama administration is the cause of the day.

But what took so long? The attacks on the last Democratic administration began as soon as he won his party's nomination.

If it "looks" like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's got to be a desperate marginalized republican lame duck.